Optoelectronic receivers to receive light, such as a photodetector, are well known. The photodetector is commonly used as a means to detect a data stream within a modulated light signal on a receiving side of a light or optical communication channel. On a transmitting side of the light or optical communication channel, the optical power in a laser beam output of a laser within a transmitter is often monitored for the purpose of automatic power monitoring (APC) and maintaining an average level of optical power output from the transmitter. It can also be useful to detect optical power at the receiving side to determine a measure of the average received optical power, as will be explained further below.